In the heady days after the liberation of Paris, hopes for a speedy end to the war against Germany were dashed by Operation Market Garden, a disastrous attempt by the Allies to secure a bridge over the Rhine River between Holland and Germany. Peleliu, a tiny island east of the Philippines and deemed a strategic launching point for retaking the Philippines, was the site in September and October of intense fighting in tropical heat. The Liberation of the Philippines took another six months.